New trading sanctions against Iran and new fuel rules coming in 2020 for the entire maritime sector were the headlines of a seminar hosted by marine insurer North P&I Club yesterday in Dubai at the Taj Dubai.
On the topic of sanctions against Iran, Mark Church, Director (FD&D), said that “practical issues will continue to impact on the ability to trade with Iran even where the trade is permissible. We encourage members to enforce their own due diligence and assess high-risk areas to avoid non-compliance.”
Thus new fuel rules for maritime coming in 2020, which effectively reduces sulphur emissions from 3.5% to 0.5%, has shipowners globally questioning the best direction to take to ensure seamless operations. On this topic, Alvin Forster, Deputy Director (Loss Prevention), said “This isn’t a simple choice for shipowners. We want to help our members understand the key issues and support them in making informed decisions on their options for compliance”.
The sulphur cap challenges faced by shipowners and charterers are not just technical. Charter party provisions will require close attention and this will be particularly pressing when fixing long term charter parties that will span the enforcement date. Paul Watson, Group Director (FD&D) remarked, “We can assist our members with the potential contractual pitfalls that come with these new rules – we can’t stress enough the importance of preparing for the change now in order to avoid charter party disputes in the future.”